Faculty

Dr. Jessica Ewell

Assistant Professor of Music

Brief Bio

For soprano Jessica Ewell, artistry and scholarship are inseparable. Through music, she transforms philosophy into experience as she brings listeners into direct contact with the good, the true, and the beautiful. In addition to directing the Voice program at Franciscan, she teaches Music Theory as well as a course entitled Survey of Sacred and Religious Music, which is part of the new Core Curriculum. This course teaches students how theological and philosophical truths can be revealed through music.

Dr. Ewell holds a doctorate in musical arts from The Catholic University of America, a master of music in vocal performance from New England Conservatory of Music, and bachelor's degrees in music and foreign languages from the University of New Mexico, where she graduated summa cum laude.

In January 2012, Dr. Ewell made her New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall as a first prize winner of the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition. She is the 2013 winner of the University of Toledo’s Art Song Festival Competition at which she presented her recital, "Within Spanish Borders." This program features music from the Spanish Empire in languages other than Spanish--such as Basque, Catalan, and Quechua. She has also performed as a soloist with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, with the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s 2012 Mid-Atlantic Congress, in a world premiere of Joseph Santo’s Vîsperas de la Santa Cruz, and at the Department of Justice’s Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration in Washington, D.C.

In November 2011, Dr. Ewell released Christmas Presence, an album that communicates theological and philosophical insights through music, including some from Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Spe Salvi. Her opera roles include the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s die Zauberflöte at The Catholic University of America and Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata with the Bel Cantanti Opera Company.

Dr. Ewell has performed as a soloist in Jordan Hall and King’s Chapel in Boston, and with Maestro Angelo Zanin in Seren del Grappa, Italy. She also received the honor of singing for His Holiness Blessed John Paul II during a private audience.

Dr. Ewell has taught voice in the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom. She has taught as a guest artist at the University of New Mexico, and has given lectures on topics in music history and philosophy at New England Conservatory and Franciscan University of Steubenville. In 2010, she was invited to present her paper “Music: The Herald of Love” at a conference sponsored by the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project in collaboration with the School of Philosophy of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, Italy.